Enhanced reality comes to Facebook

Heard of it?

It's a type of technology in which virtual (fictitious) elements are added to the real world around you. A well-known example is Pokémon GO which allows you to see fictitious monsters in public spots with your smartphone camera.

Facebook has entered the fray

Zuckerberg and co. have big plans for augmented reality. You can already add filters to your photos with Facebook Camera: for example, put a virtual astronaut’s helmet on someone’s head. This is a very simple example of what you can do with augmented reality. Facebook intends to go a lot further than that…

In the near future, it will be possible to project a chessboard onto your dinner table. One of your friends can then do the same thing at home, and you can play chess together, in different locations, without having to sit behind your computer.

Facebook also expects this innovation to start a whole new art movement. At their headquarters in Silicon Valley, they have a large white room with bare walls. But when you look at the walls through a smartphone camera, you see art works displayed.

Finally, there’s the possibility to leave virtual notes for your friends in the real world. For example, you've just had a great meal in your favourite restaurant. Well, you can leave a note for your friends by "sticking" it on the restaurant's suggestion board. Or you can leave a virtual note for your family on the milk carton in the fridge, to say it's almost empty.

Does this mean we’re on the cusp of a new era, ruled by smartphone screens? I don’t know about that. But we can certainly look forward to some really cool stuff!

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